Despite suffering successive defeats on the tour of Scandinavia, Bafana Bafana coach Joel Santana is optimistic about the future of his squad.
South Africa lost one nil to both Norway and Iceland – the last defeat coming on Tuesday night (13 October) in Reykjavik, Iceland. Viegar Pall Gunnarsson scored the only goal in the 50th minute.
“Obviously I am not happy with the losses, but it was a good outing for the side. It was important for my players to experience the rigours of international football as it will build their character. I am happy that I gave some players a chance away from home, and they did not disappoint,” said Santana.
The Brazilian says he has made some observations on the tour, “The last match was better than the first, the marking and shooting was better, but sometimes we need to use our pace more when attacking, and also we should not give our opponents space,” he said.
Captain Aaron Mokoena believes that despite the losses, the nation should not lose hope.
“We came on this trip with uncapped players who got a run and in the process they did not disappoint. Yes we are still not happy that we are not getting positive results, but on the other hand we have blended in some players and now it's up to the coach to finalise his World Cup squad,” said the skipper.
Bloemfontein Celtic captain Thabo Nthethe as well as Franklin Cale of Ajax Cape Town both made their debut on this tour. Cale was first capped in the match against Norway when he came on for Siphiwe Tshabalala, while Nthethe replaced Siboniso Gaxa in the clash with Iceland.
Bafana Bafana are left with two matches before the end of the year.
Next month they face Japan on the 14th, and then meet Jamaica three days later in Bloemfontein.
“Both matches will be difficult especially Japan which is the stronger of the two, but I need to win, I will go there for a win,” said Santana.
Bafana Bafana return to South Africa on Thursday morning (15 October).